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Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Addis Ababa Action Agenda 2015, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- We are concerned about excessive volatility of commodity prices, including for food and agriculture and its consequences for global food security and improved nutrition outcomes. We will adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and call for relevant regulatory bodies to adopt measures to facilitate timely, accurate and transparent access to market information in an effort to ensure that commodity markets appropriately reflect underlying demand and supply changes and to help to limit excess volatility of commodity prices. In this regard, we also take note of the Agricultural Market Information System hosted by FAO. We will also provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets, consistent with sustainable management practices as well as initiatives that add value to outputs from small-scale fishers.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Addis Ababa Action Agenda 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Scaling up efforts to end hunger and malnutrition. It is unacceptable that close to 800 million people are chronically undernourished and do not have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. With the majority of the poor living in rural areas, we emphasize the need to revitalize the agricultural sector, promote rural development and ensure food security, notably in developing countries, in a sustainable manner, which will lead to rich payoffs across the sustainable development goals. We will support sustainable agriculture, including forestry, fisheries and pastoralism. We will also take action to fight malnutrition and hunger among the urban poor. Recognizing the enormous investment needs in these areas, we encourage increased public and private investments. In this regard, we recognize the Committee on World Food Security's voluntary Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. We recognize the efforts of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in mobilizing investment to enable rural people living in poverty to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience. We value the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme and the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. We also recognize the complementary role of social safety nets in ensuring food security and nutrition. In this regard, we welcome the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action, which can provide policy options and strategies aimed at ensuring food security and nutrition for all. We also commit to increasing public investment, which plays a strategic role in financing research, infrastructure and pro-poor initiatives. We will strengthen our efforts to enhance food security and nutrition and focus our efforts on smallholders and women farmers, as well as on agricultural cooperatives and farmers' networks. We call upon relevant agencies to further coordinate and collaborate in this regard, in accordance with their respective mandates. These efforts must be supported by improving access to markets, enabling domestic and international environments and strengthened collaboration across the many initiatives in this area, including regional initiatives, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. We will also work to significantly reduce post-harvest food loss and waste.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Addis Ababa Action Agenda 2015, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- We are concerned about excessive volatility of commodity prices, including for food and agriculture and its consequences for global food security and improved nutrition outcomes. We will adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and call for relevant regulatory bodies to adopt measures to facilitate timely, accurate and transparent access to market information in an effort to ensure that commodity markets appropriately reflect underlying demand and supply changes and to help to limit excess volatility of commodity prices. In this regard, we also take note of the Agricultural Market Information System hosted by FAO. We will also provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets, consistent with sustainable management practices as well as initiatives that add value to outputs from small-scale fishers.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Rio+20 – Conference on Sustainable Development: The future we want 2012, para. 113
- Paragraph text
- We also stress the crucial role of healthy marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture for food security and nutrition and in providing for the livelihoods of millions of people.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Third International Conference on Financing for Development: Addis Ababa Action Agenda 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Scaling up efforts to end hunger and malnutrition. It is unacceptable that close to 800 million people are chronically undernourished and do not have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. With the majority of the poor living in rural areas, we emphasize the need to revitalize the agricultural sector, promote rural development and ensure food security, notably in developing countries, in a sustainable manner, which will lead to rich payoffs across the sustainable development goals. We will support sustainable agriculture, including forestry, fisheries and pastoralism. We will also take action to fight malnutrition and hunger among the urban poor. Recognizing the enormous investment needs in these areas, we encourage increased public and private investments. In this regard, we recognize the Committee on World Food Security's voluntary Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. We recognize the efforts of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in mobilizing investment to enable rural people living in poverty to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience. We value the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme and the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. We also recognize the complementary role of social safety nets in ensuring food security and nutrition. In this regard, we welcome the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action, which can provide policy options and strategies aimed at ensuring food security and nutrition for all. We also commit to increasing public investment, which plays a strategic role in financing research, infrastructure and pro-poor initiatives. We will strengthen our efforts to enhance food security and nutrition and focus our efforts on smallholders and women farmers, as well as on agricultural cooperatives and farmers' networks. We call upon relevant agencies to further coordinate and collaborate in this regard, in accordance with their respective mandates. These efforts must be supported by improving access to markets, enabling domestic and international environments and strengthened collaboration across the many initiatives in this area, including regional initiatives, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. We will also work to significantly reduce post-harvest food loss and waste.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Rio+20 – Conference on Sustainable Development: The future we want 2012, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- Noting the diversity of agricultural conditions and systems, we resolve to increase sustainable agricultural production and productivity globally, including by improving the functioning of markets and trading systems and strengthening international cooperation, particularly for developing countries, by increasing public and private investment in sustainable agriculture, land management and rural development. Key areas for investment and support include sustainable agricultural practices; rural infrastructure, storage capacities and related technologies; research and development on sustainable agricultural technologies; development of strong agricultural cooperatives and value chains; and the strengthening of urban-rural linkages. We also recognize the need to significantly reduce post-harvest and other food losses and waste throughout the food supply chain.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV and AIDS 2011, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Recognize that agrarian economies are heavily affected by HIV and AIDS, which debilitate their communities and families with negative consequences for poverty eradication, that people die prematurely from AIDS because, inter alia, poor nutrition exacerbates the impact of HIV on the immune system and compromises its ability to respond to opportunistic infections and diseases, and that HIV treatment, including antiretroviral treatment, should be complemented with adequate food and nutrition;
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Declaration / Confererence outcome document
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Mar 10, 2020
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Contract farming has gained importance in recent years in both developed and developing countries. Buyers see it as a means of strengthening control down the supply chain in order to respond to an increased need for production traceability and food product standardization, as quality and food safety standards have gained in importance and as consumers express concerns about the environmental and social aspects of production. Controlling contracted farmers to prevent extra-contractual marketing or the diversion of inputs received for uses other than crop production under the contract may be costly, but the costs are generally offset by the improved reliability and more consistent quality of supplies compared with products purchased on the open market. Contract farming can minimize firms' risks with respect to changes in supply and demand and allows firms to promote safety standards and other quality requirements. Contracts also enable firms to schedule the delivery of products at optimal times for their business, something that they cannot control when relying on the spot market.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Such strategies are a key component for the governance of the transition towards sustainable food systems that can contribute to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. Indeed, regardless of how innovative they may be, local initiatives can only succeed, and be "scaled out" by successful experiments being replicated across large regions, if they are supported, or at least not obstructed, by policies adopted at the national level. Moreover, poor nutritional outcomes are explained by a range of factors, and combating hunger and malnutrition requires taking into account the full set of immediate, underlying and basic causes, at the individual, household and societal level respectively: this calls for a multisectoral approach, involving the full range of relevant ministries. Finally, because food systems are in need of reform, it is not sufficient to protect existing entitlements or to preserve the status quo. Instead, transformative strategies must be adopted, with a view to guaranteeing access to adequate food for all by simultaneously supporting small-scale food producers' ability to produce food sustainably, improving employment opportunities in all sectors and strengthening social protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Several helpful initiatives exist to assist policymakers in ensuring nutrition accountability. For example, the WHO global database on the implementation of nutrition action set forth national policy actions and strategies to eliminate all forms of malnutrition. Similarly, the International Network for Food and Obesity/ Non Communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS), an international collaboration of universities and global non governmental organizations, seeks to monitor, benchmark and support actions to create healthy food environments and reduce diet-related non-communicable diseases. It uses the healthy food environment policy index to monitor government actions. While currently at the pilot-testing stage, such tools will assist civil society in holding Governments and the food industry to greater account for creating healthier food environments. The Nourishing Framework, created by World Cancer Research Fund International, is an interactive tool to promote healthy diets, allowing a selection and tailoring of policy options for different populations. Finally, WHO regional offices have developed regional nutrient profiling models, which can be used in policymaking to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- As the food industry plays a key role in the global food environment and is recognized as the primary driver of diet-related NCDs, it has a distinct responsibility to take steps to realize the right to health. While many challenges facing the food system, like environmental pressures such as draughts and floods, are out of the control of the food industry, there are several areas where it can make a positive impact on health by investing in and influencing healthier food choices. To this end, the industry should consider adopting standards to improve the nutritional quality of foods through product reformulation and to improve labelling and information on their products to contribute to healthier diets. The food industry should also invest in research to improve the nutritional content of their products rather than investing in increasing the marketability of existing products. Furthermore, supermarkets and fast food restaurants should take steps to market and promote healthier options. For example, in addition to providing calorie content of meals on menu cards, fast food restaurants should adopt appropriate nutrient profiling models that indicate the nutritional composition of the foods available.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The role of CFS should gain in importance in the future, as we become more aware of the interdependence of efforts at the local, national, regional and global levels, and of the need to accelerate learning. Indeed, just as local-level initiatives cannot succeed without support from national-level right-to-food strategies, efforts at the domestic level require international support to bear fruit. Together with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur has argued, for instance, for the establishment of a Global Fund for Social Protection, for overcoming financial obstacles and building international solidarity in order to fulfil the right to food and the right to social protection in developing countries, particularly those where vulnerability to covariant risks such as drought and food price volatility are high. The initiative was presented at the thirty-ninth plenary session of CFS in October 2012, and to the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board, as well as in various other forums. The proposal was supported by the European Parliament and was among the key recommendations that emerged from global consultations led by the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The right to food is the right of every individual, alone or in community with others, to have physical and economic access at all times to sufficient, adequate and culturally acceptable food that is produced and consumed sustainably, preserving access to food for future generations. Individuals can secure access to food (a) by earning incomes from employment or self-employment; (b) through social transfers; or (c) by producing their own food, for those who have access to land and other productive resources. Through these channels, which often operate concurrently, each person should have access to a diet that "as a whole contains a mix of nutrients for physical and mental growth, development and maintenance, and physical activity that are in compliance with human physiological needs at all stages throughout the life cycle and according to gender and occupation". Thus, the normative content of the right to food can be summarized by reference to the requirements of availability, accessibility, adequacy and sustainability, all of which must be built into legal entitlements and secured through accountability mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur's country missions have been situated within this analytical framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- On the one hand, food systems must be reshaped in order to be more inclusive of small-scale food producers, who have generally been disadvantaged in the past, both as a result of inequitable food chains and because agricultural technologies have not taken into account their specific needs. With this aim in mind, the Special Rapporteur noted the importance of addressing imbalances of power in food chains, in particular by regulating buyer power in situations where dominant positions may be a source of abuse: this has been an entirely forgotten dimension of the reforms that have been promoted since 2008 (A/HRC/9/23, paras. 35-38; and A/HRC/13/33). He also sought to define the conditions under which contract farming - based on long-term agreements between agricultural producers and buyers - could benefit small-scale farmers, suggesting a variety of business models that could usefully be implemented to support the inclusion of small-scale food producers in the food systems (A/66/262) and noting the importance of supporting farmers' organizations. He called for reforming a regime of intellectual property rights on plant varieties that can make commercially bred varieties inaccessible to the poorest farmers in low-income countries (A/64/170).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Agroecological approaches can be labour-intensive during their launching period, due to the complexity of the tasks of managing different plants and animals on the farm, and recycling the waste produced. However, research shows that the higher labour-intensity of agroecology is a reality particularly in the short term. In addition, while labour-saving policies have generally been prioritized by governments, creation of employment in rural areas in developing countries, where underemployment is currently massive, and demographic growth remains high, may constitute an advantage rather than a liability and may slow down rural-urban migration. Moreover, the cost of creating jobs in agriculture is often significantly lower than in other sectors: in Brazil, data from INCRA, the agency responsible for land reform, showed that each job generated in a settlement costs the government 3.640 USD, while the cost would be 128 per cent more expensive in industry, 190 per cent more in trade, and 240 per cent more in services. According to peasant organizations, agroecology is also more attractive to farmers, because it procures pleasant features for those working the land for long hours, such as shade from trees or the absence of smell and toxicity from chemicals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Contract farming should increasingly seek to promote agroecological forms of production and provide adequate knowledge as well as biological inputs. Contract farming will increase its sustainability if it is based on sustainable, knowledge-intensive modes of production that rely on on-farm fertility generation and pest management rather than on external inputs. Where the contract provides for highly input-intensive modes of production, specific requirements should ensure that the reliance of the producer on external inputs (in particular, improved varieties of seeds and chemical fertilizers) does not lead to a situation of increased dependency for the contracting farmer: (a) when inputs are provided by the buyer, reasonable prices should be charged, never exceeding commercial prices; (b) farmers should be offered the possibility of seeking insurance to protect them from changes in the price of the inputs they are sold; and (c) other forms of support, particularly technical advice, should be prioritized, ensuring that sustainable practices are tested and promoted, including biological control, composting, polycropping or agroforestry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- To satisfy the first condition above and because small-scale farmers are in a comparatively weaker bargaining position, they should have the opportunity to contribute to the wording of contract provisions, ensuring that the contracts reflect the farmers' needs and that obligations are written in terminology that the farmers will understand. Farmers' organizations may have a key role to play in supporting the negotiation of contracts and in providing advice, and the bargaining position of farmers is strengthened by their being organized in cooperatives that negotiate on behalf of the members. This also lowers the transaction costs for buyers, and may reduce the risk of farmer defaults by providing group lending and improved communication. Once contracts are drafted, farmers must be provided with a copy of the contract. In the case of illiterate parties, the written contract should be reviewed by farmers' representatives, a farmers' organization or a supporting non governmental organization. Copies should also be made available to relevant governmental agencies to ensure appropriate oversight and reduce the risk of abusive clauses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to adequate food (Art. 11) 1999, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Violations of the Covenant occur when a State fails to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, the minimum essential level required to be free from hunger. In determining which actions or omissions amount to a violation of the right to food, it is important to distinguish the inability from the unwillingness of a State party to comply. Should a State party argue that resource constraints make it impossible to provide access to food for those who are unable by themselves to secure such access, the State has to demonstrate that every effort has been made to use all the resources at its disposal in an effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, those minimum obligations. This follows from Article 2.1 of the Covenant, which obliges a State party to take the necessary steps to the maximum of its available resources, as previously pointed out by the Committee in its General Comment No. 3, paragraph 10. A State claiming that it is unable to carry out its obligation for reasons beyond its control therefore has the burden of proving that this is the case and that it has unsuccessfully sought to obtain international support to ensure the availability and accessibility of the necessary food.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 1999
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
A world fit for children 2002, para. 37.14
- Paragraph text
- [To achieve these goals and targets, taking into account the best interests of the child, consistent with national laws, religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of the people, and in conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, we will carry out the following strategies and actions:] Support populations and countries suffering from severe food shortages and famine.
- Body
- United Nations General Assembly
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2002
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Human rights based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a focus on those living in poverty 2011, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- A considerable proportion of States has indicated that they plan to limit or eliminate food subsidies as part of their response to the crises. From a human rights perspective, the decision to limit food subsidies at a time when food prices are escalating drastically and there is still a pressing need for public food and nutrition support is extremely worrying.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Global food promotion, marketing and advertising are closely linked with globalization, leading to dietary transitions towards unhealthy foods. The aim of food marketing is to increase demand for products by making people develop the habit of consuming the product regularly. Aggressive expansionist strategies pursued by TNCs in emerging economies over the last few decades have increased the visibility and familiarity of global food brands, which are then leveraged to increase consumption of these products. Specific marketing tools are used to increase consumption by ensuring the presence of global food brands in as many places as possible at affordable prices, while expanding the variety of their products to suit local tastes and purchasing capacities. In order to cater to some rural areas and low-income populations, soft drink companies have invested in smaller bottles at lower prices to create acceptability of the product. In other places, portion sizes are increased to encourage greater consumption. At an individual level, increased purchasing power and the convenience of ready-to-eat products promote the consumption of unhealthy foods. At a population level, the aggressive and systematic marketing strategies used by TNCs fuel this demand.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effective and full implementation of the right to health framework, including justiciability of ESCR and the right to health; the progressive realisation of the right to health; the accountability deficit of transnational corporations; and the current ... 2014, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Globalization and trade liberalization have allowed transnational corporations to gain greater and easier access to otherwise closed markets. Their increasing presence in the world economy has enabled them to influence international and domestic law-making and infringe upon States' policy space. They have influenced food consumption patterns and promoted the use of tobacco, especially in developing countries. They have also affected the rights of large communities with impunity, causing displacement, contamination of groundwater and loss of livelihood. They have directly perpetrated serious human rights violations, in particular in developing and least developed countries. They have thus seriously affected the laws, policies and social and economic environments of States and have violated the economic, social and cultural rights of individuals and communities, including the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to health and development 2011, para. 19c
- Paragraph text
- [As the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has clarified, States have a core minimum obligation to ensure the satisfaction of minimum essential levels of the right to health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), including:] Access to the minimum essential food which is nutritionally adequate and safe;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Agroecology, considered by many as the foundation of sustainable agriculture, replaces chemicals with biology. It is the integrative study of the ecology of the entire food system, encompassing ecological, economic and social dimensions. It promotes agricultural practices that are adapted to local environments and stimulate beneficial biological interactions between different plants and species to build long-term fertility and soil health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Conventions of the International Labour Organization on the protection of agricultural workers also provide some safeguards against dangerous pesticides. For example, article 12 of the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184) is dedicated to the sound management of chemicals, while article 13 imposes regulatory obligations with regard to preventive and protective measures for the use of chemicals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Climate change is one of the foremost contemporary threats to food security. The agriculture sector is under substantial stress from climate change-induced increases in temperature, variability in rainfall?and extreme weather events that trigger crop failures, pests and disease outbreaks, as well as the degradation of land and water resources.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Unfortunately, there are no reliable, global statistics on the number of people who suffer from pesticide exposure. Recently, the non-profit organization Pesticide Action Network estimated that the number of people affected annually by short- and long-term pesticide exposure ranged between 1 million and 41 million.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In its general comment, the Committee furthermore asserts that sustainability is intrinsically linked to the notion of adequate food, implying that food must be accessible for both present and future generations. As outlined in the present report, pesticides are responsible for biodiversity loss and water and soil contamination and for negatively affecting the productivity of croplands, thereby threatening future food production.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides individuals with a grievance mechanism at the international level to claim violations of any of the rights set forth in the Covenant and to submit complaints to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
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Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 4
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- While scientific research confirms the adverse effects of pesticides, proving a definitive link between exposure and human diseases or conditions, or harm to the ecosystem presents a considerable challenge. This challenge has been exacerbated by a systematic denial, fuelled by the pesticide and agroindustry, of the magnitude of the damage inflicted by these chemicals, and aggressive, unethical marketing tactics remain unchallenged.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
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